Chapter 268 - 227: Tining Realm

Chapter 268: Chapter 227: Tining Realm

In the room, Zhang Ji carefully studied the profound light of information that was the `Nine Marvels Dao Scripture`.

It contained all nine of the wondrous Secret Skills, but there was also a great deal of more advanced information.

This part of the information was exceedingly complex. Most of it was compressed and packaged, and Zhang Ji could only decipher a fraction of it.

Celestial Monarch Qin had truly created a grand synthesis. This Dao scripture, one could say, contained every detail of his cultivation journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle, along with all his insights into the various realms.

He had conveyed it using the limits of his ability to transmit information.

If someone could truly understand it and follow this path to its end, achieving the Void Realm would not be difficult.

Zhang Ji read through the first eight of the nine wondrous Secret Skills.

They were all (Legendary)-grade fighting techniques. Although they each held mysteries, they weren’t too difficult to understand. Given Zhang Ji’s current level of comprehension, they were nothing special.

However, when he tried to decipher the `Izakai Skill`, his expression changed slightly.

It wasn’t because of its unusual nature as a (Myth)-grade skill, but because its fundamental concept was truly on another level.

Just as Zhang Ji had guessed, this skill stepped into the domain of a higher realm. Although it only touched upon the fringes, there was no doubt it had genuinely codified certain principles and put them to use.

In Zhang Ji’s eyes, the `Izakai Skill` was like a rather profound algorithm.

Through this algorithm, one could calculate the fluctuations of spacetime and the potential changes of myriad substances over a large area. Then, by applying the correct interference through one’s own methods, one could transform low-probability events into high-probability ones.

Though rudimentary, it was truly a method for stepping into the domain of spacetime.

According to the fragments of lore left by the developers of the game `Ultimate Fighting`, the K-class background entities they described were gods who traversed infinite dimensions of spacetime.

Spacetime bears all things and drives their motion. Hence, we have the word to describe the movement of matter: time.

To step into the domain of spacetime means one can completely control matter and its transformations.

Past and future are but a thought away.

To make matter move forward is to travel to the future. To fix it in place is to pause time. To make its particles move backward is to reverse spacetime.

One could also become eternal and immortal, truly unaffected by the ravages of changing spacetime.

And only in the domain of spacetime can one control so-called "destiny."

No matter how low a probability seems to you, in the eyes of a mighty being in the domain of spacetime, it can be an inevitability. Such a being could be considered omnipotent.

After all, such a being can rewind and run simulations countless times, directly aiming for the desired outcome.

Just like a player who transcends dimensions and possesses absolute divinity.

The halo of destiny spun behind Zhang Ji’s head, his body was shrouded in the profound light of wisdom, and golden bodhi light showered down upon him, but his progress in comprehending the `Izakai Skill` was still very slow.

’It’s not that I can’t understand it; my computational power is simply insufficient.’

The skill had already given him the corresponding calculation method, but it was still extremely difficult for him to calculate anything. The causal mass of his target was too large, involving overly complex information, and the resulting data threatened to overwhelm him.

Even if he casually tossed a stone, trying to calculate its changes over the next hundred years and then interfere with them was beyond his grasp.

He had to reduce the amount of data by shortening the timeframe. Only when he shortened it to ten days could he calculate the result within a minute. He then knew the stone’s possible changes ten days from now and how to interfere to achieve his desired future.

After calculating for a while, Zhang Ji picked up a teacup, walked outside, and stopped in an open area. He then casually tossed the teacup onto a spot on the path.

Then Zhang Ji moved to a different spot to observe quietly.

After a little while, a disciple passed by. He saw the teacup, bent down to pick it up, and walked away in confusion. What he didn’t notice was that when he bent over, a few Elemental Stones fell from his person.

Zhang Ji stepped forward, picked up the Elemental Stones, and a smile touched his lips. "This `Izakai Skill` is... interesting."

Elemental Stones are a type of ore containing pure heaven-and-earth primordial energy, similar to other high-energy natural minerals like Spirit Stones and Magic Crystals. In this world, they are a cultivation resource that can be guided by one’s Spirit, then refined and absorbed using Qi and Blood.

These few Elemental Stones were of little value to Zhang Ji. However, after verifying the profundity of the `Izakai Skill`, numerous ideas began to sprout in his mind.

’Perhaps, for the path ahead, I no longer have to feel my way blindly. I can first use the `Izakai Skill` to deduce and verify possibilities, then interfere to obtain a definite future.’

-----------------

「Origin Star.」

「The date was December 23rd.」

A new year was approaching, but during this time, several more spacetime rifts had been discovered on Origin Star, and there were even invaders from Otherworlds.

The most recent visitor from an Otherworld came from the newly discovered Otherworld No. 12.

It was a worm, over ten meters in size, that appeared directly inside a city in Ludo. It rapidly devoured reinforced concrete, treating any substance as food, and could spit a high-temperature, corrosive liquid. In the end, a B-rank, 8th Dan martial artist from the nearby [Zhendi Sect] smashed it to pieces on the spot.

This was not an isolated disaster. All of the newly discovered worlds had experienced invasions, and two of them were frequent sources of incursion.

Of these two frequently invading worlds, one was the one connected to Ludo, and the other was from a spacetime rift in Ron.

The creatures coming from Ludo’s spacetime rift were mostly strange-looking monsters who, aside from their biological instincts, had almost no ability to communicate. The beings from Ron’s spacetime rift, however, were different. They seemed to be life forms possessing considerable intelligence; they just had bizarre appearances.

At this very moment, one of Zhang Ji’s avatars was inside the newly constructed prison in Ron.

There were four captured invaders here.

They all had strange appearances. Two were humanoid but with animalistic features; one had horns and the face of a horse, while the other had the head of a leopard. The other two didn’t resemble humans at all; one looked like a giant bat, and the other a giant wild boar.

However, they all clearly possessed some intelligence and could even communicate with each other.

Thinking the locals couldn’t understand their language, they conversed without much caution.

"Brother Leopard, the people here are incredibly strong," said the horse-faced man. "Those mechanisms don’t look like anything mundane. Escaping won’t be easy."

"Ma," said Brother Leopard, "I don’t think we’re in the Three Realms anymore. This is probably some Immortal’s grotto-heaven. When the person in charge arrives, we should just surrender. If we do, we might get away with being forced into labor. Otherwise, I’m afraid they’ll kill us and refine us into medicine."

"Seniors, if things go well for you, could you put in a good word for this old pig?" the large wild boar chimed in. "I’m not good for much, but I’ve got plenty of brute strength. I could be of use to you two!"

"Sure, sure..."

"Sigh... I thought this place would be full of blood-food. I was just about to eat my fill when a human puppet shot a mystic light right through my wings," the bat, collapsed on the ground, lamented. "This is no place for a demon..."

"Tell me about it," Brother Leopard sighed. "I had just bitten off a human’s arm and was planning to savor it. Before I could even take a proper bite, a human puppet flew down from the sky and used Magic on me. A mystic light pierced my right leg, and I was captured."

"So what do you all think this place is?" the horse-faced man asked, confused. "Didn’t the Immortals of the Heavenly Court leave long ago? The six paths are in chaos, and the Three Realms now belong to the three great Demon Emperors. What cultivator in this world has the power to open up a realm like this?"

"Who knows?" said the bat. "Right now, I just want to go back to Shengtu City. I used to think it was a bad place, but looking back... at least my life wasn’t in danger there..."

...

Listening to their conversation, Zhang Ji found the corresponding memories in his mind.

The Tining Realm.

A great world, no smaller than the Qunxu Continent and perhaps even vaster.

However, it seemed to have suffered a great calamity many years ago, causing the top factions that had established a governing body to depart all at once.

After they left, the world quickly descended into chaos. The status of the Human Race, which had once controlled most of the world’s resources, plummeted. Hordes of demons and monsters ran rampant, occupying countless human kingdoms and raising humans like livestock for blood-food. The roles had been completely reversed.

Zhang Ji wondered, ’Should I open up another front?’

’The Tining Realm once produced top-tier experts, and its resources are not lacking. Especially now, with it in a state of lawlessness, there should be almost no significant resistance. Unifying it would be easy.’

’But most of my forces are on the Qunxu Continent right now. Progress there is in full swing, and it’s not a good time to divert my strength.’

"I still have to go. At the very least, I need to scout out the map first."

Zhang Ji quickly made his decision.

And so, not long after, the newly constructed World Starship No. 5 set sail, with Zhang Ji’s avatar heading straight for the Tining Realm.

This avatar possessed less than one ten-thousandth of his main body’s mass, but in terms of attributes, it was at the level of an ordinary A-rank. Combined with Zhang Ji’s skills, it would have no problem being invincible among A-ranks and could even hold its own against an S-rank for a time.

Zhang Ji planned to use the avatar to scout the map first. Blessed with his foreknowledge, he knew there were some valuable things he could acquire there ahead of time.

He had no choice. He had spread his operations too thin and had recruited too little talent. When faced with these matters, he had no one under him to deploy, so he had to go himself.

’So I really need to speed up the construction of the platform. In the future, I can just rely on it to leech and harvest. Countless excellent resources will flow to me even if I do nothing. I won’t have to act as a beast of burden so often, and I’ll be able to focus completely on my own cultivation.’

-----------------

The Starship’s travel speed was relatively slow. It took over a full day to reach the Tining Realm.

As soon as he arrived, Zhang Ji’s first impression was of a foul and noxious miasma.

The energy between heaven and earth was extremely chaotic. From Zhang Ji’s perspective, it was as if the world was letting in completely unfiltered Chaos Energy.

’The world’s operating mechanism must have a problem.’

Zhang Ji was certain of this, but he didn’t know the exact nature of the problem.

Back when he was a player, this world hadn’t been one of his main dungeons. He had only visited a few times and read some guides, but because it didn’t suit the fighting style he had built, he hadn’t focused on it much. Naturally, he was also unclear on the truth behind the departure of the Heavenly Court’s Immortals.

’But it doesn’t matter. Even if there’s a problem with the world’s operating mechanism, it’s not like it’s going to be destroyed overnight.’

’The process of a world’s death can easily take hundreds of millions of years.’

’That much time is more than enough for me to eat my fill and get out.’